U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/134,990, filed Mar. 18, 2015, is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Most handles of utility objects have simple shapes, such as cylinder or rod shapes. Some have a knob opposite the utility object, such as the well known shaving and makeup brushes. Other handles such as many brush handles for applying finishes and coatings, such as, but not limited to, paints, varnishes, lacquers, stains, and the like, may have more complex shapes, such as elongate shapes that are wider adjacent to the brush or other utility object, narrower in a mid-region, and continuing narrowness to the opposite end, or wider at that end. Some may have slightly indented generically shaped receptacles for the thumb and/or fingers.
Particularly found to be lacking or unsatisfactory are common known paint brush handles for applying paints, coatings and finishes, which handles are flat in one dimension, usually along the wide side of a flat brush. The shortcomings when using these brushes arise in part due to the weight of the loaded brush, and/or the force which must be exerted when applying thicker paint or other coatings to get them to transfer to the surface being painted or coated. When applying coatings using these common brushes, the brush ferrule which is also flat or adjacent flat area of the handle is typically held or pinched between the thumb tip and one or more fingertips. Placing the thumb and or fingertips on the ferrule places helps increase the precision that can be achieved, but increased thumb and fingertip pressure is often exerted, such as when following a line or edge, e.g., painting a window sash, door trim, or the like, and when cutting in, that is, wherein a brush is used to apply fresh or new paint or other coating material along a line or edge. The thickness between the flat surfaces of the ferrule or brush handle grasped in this manner is typically the same as the thickness of the brush itself in that dimension, and as a general statement, is typically relatively thin, on the order of 1 inch or less for most common brushes.
A prominent problem resulting from holding brushes in the above described manner, with the thumb and fingertips, particularly when doing precision work for an extended time, is that the fingers eventually becoming fatigued and sore. Because of the flatness of the ferrule and the adjacent handle surfaces, few or no effective alternative holding positions are available to provide relief while allowing the same level of precision. And, because the flat surfaces are generally even or coplanar with the sides of the brush, no mechanical advantage is achieved over the brush, typically necessitating exertion of greater force through the thumb and fingertips than is desirable for long periods of use.
When applying coatings along a long line, e.g., several feet in length, cutting in, and other actions requiring precision, a user will typically have to vary the angular relationship of the hand and arm continuously and/or several times during the required movements, and when doing so holding the flat brush handle or ferrule with the thumb and fingertips, will usually involve concentrating loading conditions in the same regions of the palm side pads of the thumb and fingertips, which has been found to be a major cause of the experienced fatigue. Users also often find that the elongate extended portion of the brush handle can interfere with or distract from their ability to sight along the brush, and with their ability to make the necessary hand, wrist, and arm manipulations to guide the brush along the desired line. As a result, applying coatings for extended periods of time using brushes having the known long flat handles has been found to be cumbersome and uncomfortable.
As another problem, repeated non-application movements while holding the brush mainly with the thumb and fingertips, such as when moving the brush between a bucket or pail containing the paint or coating and a higher or distant surface onto which the paint or coating is to be applied, is also fatiguing.
As a result, extended use of the known flat brush handles, particularly many years of daily use, has been found to be a significant contributing factor in chronic discomfort and physical problems in the hand, wrist, forearm, shoulder, neck, and back. In particular, for the required control for precision applications, e.g., window sash, door, and door jamb painting, holding the flat ferrule of brushes between the thumb and tips of the index, second, and sometimes third and fourth fingers, has been found by many with chronic injuries, including professional painters, to be fatiguing after a just a few hours of use, requiring more frequent rest and accompanying reduction in productivity.
As an additional shortcoming, applying coatings using the known brushes by holding the flat ferrule with the thumb and fingertips has also been found to expose the skin to frequent contact with the paint or other coating, which may be undesirable from the perspective of chemical irritation, exposure, and absorption.
Alternatives to the known traditional brush handle shapes include, for example, those of Wholey U.S. Design Pat. Nos. D426,070; D575,067; and D636,605, which disclose several shaped handles claimed to have ergonometric properties. The main advantage of these handles appears to be relatively shallow concavities shaped to generally receive the thumb tip or the fingertips of a hand, but the concavities have the same shape on both sides, and are still relatively flat and thin, and some of the handles are in the overall form of a pistol grip wherein the fingers are wrapped around the handle in offset relation to the brush and at a large angle thereto (to the brush filaments), which has been found to be less than desirable. There is also little or no apparent manner of achieving mechanical advantage over the brush head with these handles.
In further regard to precision application of coatings and finishes, when applying to trim, such as window sashes, doors, and door frames, the ability to precisely control and hold the brush at particular angles throughout long brushing or stroking movements produce the best results and it has been found that the placement and orientation of the thumb and fingers about the brush handle or ferrule are important.
It has also been found through the inventor's experiments that if more of the hand can be used, and if different thumb and finger positions are available, including using more of the thumb and fingers lengthwise and also different portions of the thumb and finger pads, force concentrations and stress will be reduced, and it will be easier to utilize different muscles of the wrist, forearm, upper arm, and shoulder in the brushing movements to provide relief. It has also been found that if it is possible to exert mechanical advantage over the brush head, less fatigue and soreness can be experienced if done in a manner that does not require holding the brush handle at a substantial distance from the brush tip.
Still further, it has been found that having a brush or other utility object handle shaped to be intuitively grasped, particularly in a mating fashion with the palm, and palm sides of the thumb and fingers of the hand, while holding the utility object, e.g., brush, in multiple alternative functional positions that facilitate use of additional muscles, would be a desirable feature. This has been found to be particularly desirable if the holding positions can be used to exert mechanical advantage over the brush or other utility object.
Another desirable capability when applying finishes to elevated surfaces, e.g., overhead, would be to easily and conveniently extend one's reach while maintaining the ability to precisely control the brush during long brushing movements.
Thus, what is sought is a utility handle for a utility object that provides one or more of the capabilities and features, and overcomes one or more of the problems and shortcomings, set forth above.